I am nearly 100% positive that everyone in this world has gone through some kind of trial or troublesome time in their life; whether it be an illness or death in the family, troubles in your relationships with others, or anything else that could have a negative impact on your life or cause any kind of stress, everyone has been through an experience or time that they were unsure if anything would ever get better for them. I know from experience how awful that can be-I have had my fair share of hard times in my life. But the one thing that has helped me get through those rough patches in my life was, without a doubt, my savior, Jesus Christ. Now, please don’t think that I am using this article only as an opportunity to shove my religion down your throats. Yes, I am a strongly devoted Christian, and yes, I give God the glory for everything that he has done in my life. But my job as a child of God isn’t to force my beliefs onto other people, it is to share the good things that God has done for me with the rest of the world, and to bless others with His love and kindness. And that is exactly what I plan to do in this entry.

I suppose I’ll begin by sharing my own personal testimony. In July of 2012, when I was only a 15-year-old girl, I lost my grandfather to Leukemia. My grandfather, whom I affectionately called my “Papa Gary”, was one of the godliest men, if not THE godliest man, that I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. He went to church every chance he could, despite how badly he felt or how sick he was, read his bible on a daily basis, set aside to pray every day, and always made it a point to share the love of Jesus with his grand-babies. “Jesus loves you, baby” he would always tell me, as he would lead me around his farm as I would ride one of his horses. It was during those times together, those times that he set aside one-on-one with all of his grandchildren, that I discovered Jesus. I was only 5 at that time; I was too young to truly understand everything that he was telling me. But as I got older, and attended church more often, I began to understand and eventually accepted Christ in my life. I thank God today that he allowed my Papa to be present when I got baptized at my church, on my 10 ^th birthday. I was growing strong in my faith for a long time, thanks to my family, God, and, of course, my Papa. But, things eventually went downhill for my grandfather.

On top of his Leukemia, he was a suffering diabetic. That poor man was very sick, but he was never afraid that the next day would be his last; he would always tell us that he was “ready to go whenever the Good Lord wanted to come get him.” I didn’t even want to think about my precious grandfather passing away; even though I knew that he was ready to go, and even though I knew that he wouldn’t be sick anymore once he left this world, I wasn’t ready to let him go. That is the selfish side of human nature that we all have. And when he was called home, at UK’s medical center in Lexington, KY, my heart had shattered. After he had passed away, I turned into a completely different person. I had changed, but in a negative way. And the worst part of it all was that, for a while, I had begun to resent God. I was angry with Him for taking my beloved Papa from myself and my family. I was extremely bitter for a while, but one Sunday, when I had been dragged to church by my parents even though I still held my resentment toward God, things began to slowly change for me.

A Bible verse that most people have heard of at least once in their lifetime, John 3:16, says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son and that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” In simpler terms, this verse says that God loved His people so much that He sent His son, who is Jesus Christ, down to earth to be bullied, persecuted, and eventually killed on the cross, just to save us lowly humans from our own sins and to give us an opportunity to spend eternity in heaven with Him in heaven, even after we die on earth. When I heard this verse, everything stopped for me. Instead of bitterness, I felt the hope and joy that I had missed so dearly. I had found comfort in the knowledge that my papa, because he was such a devout Christian, was in heaven, and that even though I could no longer be with him here on earth, I would be able to reunite with him again once I was able to cross over into my heavenly home. After that moment, my happiness was back, my hope was back, and most importantly, my love and faith in God was back.

I sincerely hope that my testimony will encourage those who are going through difficult times to not to give up on the Lord, no matter how difficult things may get. We may not realize it now, but there is a reason for everything that he allows to happen to us. It’s so easy to get angry at God for allowing bad things to happen; to an extent, its human nature. But we cannot let that anger consume us! We cannot let one bad thing stand between us and a relationship with Christ! As easy as it can be to do so, it is something that must be avoided. If anyone is struggling with this in their lives, I want to encourage them to talk to me, or anyone else. I want to be a vessel through which people can come to and know that they will leave with a closer relationship with Christ. Like I said earlier, my intentions are not at all to shove my religion down anyone’s throat, or to try to force anyone to believe the same was as I do- I’m only trying to tell people of what had helped me throughout a very dark period in my life. And with that being said, I would like to leave you all with a few bible verses:

• Psalm 18:2 says, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
  
  
• Matthew 11:28-30 says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
  
  
• Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”